Sakaja Explains Why Collapsed Eastleigh Building Had No Construction Approval

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has explained why the multi-storey building that collapsed in Eastleigh had no development approval, accusing the developer of proceeding with construction despite enforcement action by the county government.

In a statement on Sunday, October 25, Sakaja disputed claims that the development had been approved, saying a document being circulated to support the allegations was fake and had allegedly been used by the developer to obtain approval from the National Construction Authority (NCA).

"I have seen some people peddling a fake approval document alleging that the Eastleigh development was approved. It is telling that this is the same document that the Eastleigh developer used to get NCA approval. They allege that the development was approved in January of 2024. This is not true," he wrote.

Sakaja said the dates on the development application contradicted claims that the project had been approved earlier in 2024. 

He also clarified that approval to change the property's use did not amount to permission to undertake the construction.

"The application for development as shown below was made in November of 2024, it could not have been approved in February of the same year. Also, there is a difference between a change of user approval and a development approval," he added.

According to Sakaja, the developer had initially applied in August 2024 to change the property's use from residential to a combination of residential and commercial purposes. 

The county approved the change of user in October 2024, but did not grant development approval for the construction.

Sakaja maintained that the developer proceeded with the project without the required building approvals, despite repeated attempts by county officials to enforce compliance.

"Development approval has never been granted. The developer went on to build with impunity and without building approvals despite enforcement action by the county and arrests," he further said.

Sakaja said county officials had taken enforcement action against the developer several times, with the most recent incident occurring in July after the developer allegedly failed to comply with an enforcement order. 

He said the suspects were arrested but released on bail the same day.

"Enforcement action and arrests were made severally by the county officials and most recently in July after failing to comply with the enforcement order below. However the suspects were released on a 50k bail at Kamukunji police on the very same day," he noted.

Sakaja also criticised the handling of cases involving alleged violations of county construction regulations, saying the county had repeatedly encountered difficulties pursuing prosecutions.

"Prosecution of the same was also denied. We have repeatedly asked for the resumption of the power to prosecute such violations of such county and county related laws after this was taken away from County governments in 2024 (one such letter to the office of the DPP is attached)," he stated.

Sakaja further noted that several similar cases had either been rejected by prosecutors, dismissed by the courts or resulted in minimal fines. 

He said the outcomes had weakened the county government's efforts to enforce construction regulations and hold developers accountable for violating building requirements.

Sakaja argued that the penalties imposed on developers found to have undertaken illegal construction were insufficient, particularly where the projects involved substantial investments and posed potential risks to the public.

"Fining a developer Ksh50,000 for an illegal development with hundreds of millions without orders to stop and remove the offensive development is completely unreasonable. I raised this in the Senate a fortnight ago and we shall keep pushing for a review of this position," he concluded.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen confirmed that seven people were missing following the collapse of the building.

He said the seven were occupants of the 11 shops on the ground floor of the building that collapsed on Friday, October 23.

Murkomen confirmed that a multi-agency team comprising the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), National Police Service (NPS), Nairobi City County Government, National Youth Service (NYS), Kenya Red Cross and other government agencies had made contact with some of them

"Seven people have been reported missing. The rescue team has made contact with some of them, and efforts are underway to rescue those trapped in the rubble," he wrote.

Murkomen called on anyone whose loved ones were missing in relation to the collapse to file a report with the Kenya Red Cross through its emergency number.

He assured that the national and county governments have provided the multi-agency team with all needed support to expedite the search and rescue operation.

Murkomen said 67 construction workers were in the building when it collapsed, and all have been accounted for.

"66 escaped uninjured, while one sustained injuries and is in stable condition in hospital. Support for affected individuals and families, including psychosocial support, is being arranged," he added.